Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Hewlett-Packard says its tablet liquidation sale was such a hit that it is making some more tablets to liquidate.

The tablet, the TouchPad, is getting a brief reprieve from its death sentence. H.P. said on Tuesday that it swas planning to produce one last run of its would-be iPad competitor.

Consumers shunned the TouchPad when it was introduced two months ago, and H.P. quickly said it would stop production as part of a broader overhaul. But the remaining tablets went quickly after their price was discounted 80 percent. So many people wanted them, in fact, that H.P. could not fill all the orders.

“Since we announced the price drop, the number of inquiries about the product and the speed at which it disappeared from inventory has been stunning,” H.P. said in a blog post. “I think it’s safe to say we were pleasantly surprised by the response.”

The company continued: “We have decided to produce one last run of TouchPads to meet unfulfilled demand. We don’t know exactly when these units will be available or how many we’ll get, and we can’t promise we’ll have enough for everyone. We do know that it will be at least a few weeks before you can purchase.”

H.P. described the batch of new TouchPads as a “limited supply” and said it would limit purchases to one per customer. They will be available by the end of October at $100 for the version with 16 gigabytes of storage, and $150 for 32 gigabytes, the same prices charged during the first liquidation sale.